flatbaroque Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Got my little Kay parlor won on Ebay delivered yesterday.A cheap little blues box from the mid sixties with a funky art deco pickguard. All looked good, strings had been loosened.I could see the coloured ball ends of the strings under the end tailpiece so D'addario....felt like 12's. So I thought...that's good this little parlor can take 12's........haha...little did I know. Started tuning up...good...holding tune...nice dry thumpy tone for a little guitar....high action but playable...as long as you don't venture around the 12th fret where you could hold a tightrope highwire act. Anyway started tuning the B....hear a creak...action is getting higher!!...big creak...bolt on neck pulls away from body...guitar in a sad triangle of pain...neck at 30 degress to body.. Bolts are just wood screws...guess it was all too much for the old beast...but i will be able to salvage it...maybe glue and screw the neck back on...it was only screwed...It will be never worth getting a neck reset or anything so glueing should be ok. Not worth going to a luthier I think. Seller had a try before buy clause so i guess it was ok at his end... Will keep you informed of progress...determined to fix and post a song....even if i have to play slide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Ah, bugger, that looked like a lovelly little blues box FB, Im sorry to hear it had such a short life .... I suppose a truss rod adjustment is out of the question ... ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Sorry to hear that! Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedzep Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Right in the firepit with it! Or...get the neck back together, slack tune it and string it up with some cheepo Ernie Balls, buy a soundhole pickup and plug it in with a lot of distortion, slack open tuned on your lap with a big ol' chrome or glass slide, and rip it up. That's what I did with my Oahu beater. What an evil sounding growl! http://www.ebay.com/itm/350515343713?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchristo Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 hopefully some glue and new screws will get it in playing condition......keep us posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 hopefully some glue and new screws will get it in playing condition......keep us posted I agree. Post some pictures of how it is/was put together, and I bet we can come up with a way to fix it. There are a lot of clever people here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatbaroque Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Thanks fellers.I'll see if I can post some photos as Nick suggested.I've no doubt many of you guys would have it pretty much fixed in less than an hour. I may have a go at the glue and screw...the only thing that concerns me is if I stuff the action up because of a slightly dodgy neck angle. But the neck / body pocket is very tight so it should work in theory. Even though I didn't want to spend money on it , I rang a guitar tech who quoted $120...which seems ok. Another complication is a floating bridge...there is a kind of a shadow on the soundboard where it sits though- so hopefully placement and subsequent intonation should be ok. EA thanks for the truss rod tweak suggestion....it will be easy to do as I can adjust the neck in the living room while the rest of the guitar is in the bedroom it does have a steel reinforced neck...but not a truss rod as such...haha Anyway nothing to lose sleep over, still have the 2010 J-45 standard in top notch fettle!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 EA thanks for the truss rod tweak suggestion....it will be easy to do as I can adjust the neck in the living room while the rest of the guitar is in the bedroom it does have a steel reinforced neck...but not a truss rod as such...haha Anyway nothing to lose sleep over, still have the 2010 J-45 standard in top notch fettle!. Glad to see you crack a joke in the middle of a crack. All though a cheaper guitar, the pics - if you post any - will be painful to watch. Hep for the way you're handling the neg. unexpected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatbaroque Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 Gday guys...I've got the little blighter glued and clamped...so i will give it a day or two and put the screws back...i kind of filled the holes in the connection block where they pulled out...maybe put 1 or 2 new screws in...if i think the neck can take it. When I restring I'm thinking keep the 3 treble strings as lights (12's) but use whatever the bass strings are from extra lights (11's)... Most of the tension is from the bass strings...? is that right... Just that I don't like extra lights much on treble strings.Sorry I didn't post photos of the carnage. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedzep Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Gday guys...I've got the little blighter glued and clamped...so i will give it a day or two and put the screws back...i kind of filled the holes in the connection block where they pulled out...maybe put 1 or 2 new screws in...if i think the neck can take it. When I restring I'm thinking keep the 3 treble strings as lights (12's) but use whatever the bass strings are from extra lights (11's)... Most of the tension is from the bass strings...? is that right... Just that I don't like extra lights much on treble strings.Sorry I didn't post photos of the carnage. Thanks Start it out slack tuned maybe a whole note too. Then you can watch/hear for movement. Glue could use a good week to finish curing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Most of the tension is from the bass strings...? is that right... No, that is an incorrect assumption. My assumption was always that the treble strings would have more tension, which is also wrong. That way string sets are designed is for each string to exert equal tension on the neck (at standard tuning or designated alternate tuning). D'Adarrio has a very interesting pdf chart on the subject: http://www.daddario.com/upload/tension_chart_13934.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatbaroque Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 That's good info in the PDF Larry....will have a close look later today.......as already suggested I'll tune up in open d or g or maybe a half step down and see how she blows.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 No, that is an incorrect assumption. My assumption was always that the treble strings would have more tension, which is also wrong. That way string sets are designed is for each string to exert equal tension on the neck (at standard tuning or designated alternate tuning). D'Adarrio has a very interesting pdf chart on the subject: http://www.daddario.com/upload/tension_chart_13934.pdf But they don't really do that, if you look at the string tension tables provided by other string manufacturers. They seem to vary a lot, depending on the string gauge and construction. Scale length matters, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 will be interesting watching the first video , see if the nervousness of it snapping shut before the songs over will add some unusual angst to your music like a real life jack in the box ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatbaroque Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 will be interesting watching the first video , see if the nervousness of it snapping shut before the songs over will add some unusual angst to your music like a real life jack in the box ! haha...probably calls for a special song "Po Boy Parlor Blues" My woman she done up and gone said "There's too much tension in that song Yo' G string it's a pullin' back Don't want to see no ugly crack" Po Boy ,Po Boy, Po boy parlor blues jus' Be careful of the strings you choose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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